"I felt like the luckiest kid in the world because God had put me on the ground in Texas. I actually felt sorry for those poor little kids that had to be born in Oklahoma or England or some place. I knew I was living in the best place in the world."
– Tommy Lee Jones​
Consider the source.
"I've traveled all over the world, but I don't think there is any place better than Texas." – Red Adair​
"Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15."
– Ronald Reagan​
"The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin." – Mark Twain​
"Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may." – Sam Houston
"The collection of any taxes which are not absolutely required, which do not beyond reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare, is only a species of legalized larceny." – Calvin Coolidge​
On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head as he watched an evening play in Washington, D.C. Lincoln died the next morning.
"Important principles may, and must, be inflexible." – Abraham Lincoln​
"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."
– Thomas Jefferson​
Born April 13, 1743
"The object of civil society is justice, not truth, virtue, wealth, knowledge, glory or power. Justice is followed by equality and liberty."
– John Dalberg-Acton, Lord Acton​
"Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people, and Hallelujah is our song."
– Pope John Paul II
"Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless."
– Milton Friedman​
"I’ll retire when they pry my cold, dead fingers off of my Bible."
– R.C. Sproul
"Ever since the religion of Islam appeared in the world, the espousers of it...have been as wolves and tigers to all other nations, rending and tearing all that fell into their merciless paws, and grinding them with their iron teeth."
– John Wesley​
"The market is a more powerful and more reliable liberating force than government can ever be."
– Margaret Thatcher​
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."
– Winston Churchill
"Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings."
– Ludwig von Mises​
On March 17, 461, the Christian missionary and bishop Patricius, known today as St. Patrick, died in Ireland.
"I arise today through God's strength to pilot me: God's eye to look before me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's way to lie before me." – St. Patrick​
"I studied the Quran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad."
– Alexis de Tocqueville​
"Run toward the roar, that is where Christ's most glorious victory will be won. I know I shall die, and I shall die on time. I must make the most of the moments between here and there."
– St. Boniface
"Most of the energy of political work is devoted to correcting the effects of mismanagement of government."
– Milton Friedman
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."
– Pericles
"Those who stay away from the election think that one vote will do no good. 'Tis but one step more to think one vote will do no harm."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson​
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!"
– Barry Goldwater
"We constantly change the world, even by our inaction. Therefore, let us change it responsibly."
– Benjamin Franklin​
On Feb. 25, 1836, a patent was issued to Samuel Colt for the first practical revolving-cylinder firearm.
"Keep your revolver near you night and day, and never relax your precautions."
– Arthur Conan Doyle​
"You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks."
– Winston Churchill
"It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill."
– Wilbur Wright​
On Feb. 17, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected as the third president of the United States following a contentious campaign against incumbent President John Adams.
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." – Thomas Jefferson
(I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery.)​
